


Visit from the Tines

by generalsticky



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Mild Language, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-15 01:05:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4587165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generalsticky/pseuds/generalsticky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Tines is a queendom far away from Enchancia that is shaped like a fork. The queen of the Tines, Queen Azure, is visiting the royals of Enchancia for a month, along with her son, Prince Ren, and her best friend, the sorceress Primrose the Practical. Everything seems to be going smoothly, but are visiting royals hiding something?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction I've written in at least ten years, and the first one I've ever written with original characters. I hope this story is at least mildly interesting, and that I've written the characters as close to canon as they normally are. I'm working on drawing Queen Azure and Prince Ren, but for now, [here is a link to a drawing of Primrose the Practical.](http://i.imgur.com/P8JMkpR.png)

Far away from Enchancia, there was the queendom known as the Tines. It was called this due to the fork-like shape land took, with four long peninsulas sticking out into the sea. The castle that the queen lived in was right at the coast, so she could enjoy the sea whenever she wanted. But Queen Azure was ready to leave, and meet the royalty of Enchancia for the first time in decades.

In a room beneath the castle, lit only by candles and magic, Primrose snored away at her desk, having fallen asleep while copying down a spell. Primrose had dull, red hair, her ringlets pulled loosely into a ponytail, while her bangs just barely stayed out of her eyes, which were an almost grey shade of blue, and almost always covered with a large, round pair of glasses. Her skin had become an almost deathly pale from how often she had avoided the sun, although freckles still marked her face. Every outfit she wore consisted of the exact same shades of orange, purple, and pink, and she liked it that way. Primrose was not a fan of change at all.

She had been dreaming about dragons, when she was shaken awake. As Primrose lifted her face up off her spell book, almost bringing a page that had stuck to her face with her, she noticed who had woken her and quickly woke herself up as completely as she could.

"Zurie? What are you doing up at this late hour?" She asked the queen. Primrose had a calm sounding voice, that would be almost soothing if it wasn't for the slightly squeaky quality to it.

"Primrose, Darling, it's four in the morning, the carriage leaves in an hour. I wanted to make sure you were ready." Queen Azure was very close to Primrose, and took her royal sorceress with her everywhere she went. There was no way she was leaving her behind while visiting Enchancia.

Primrose groaned and grabbed her wand. It was a brownish-orange wand, with a wavy texture to it. She twirled it at the clothes she had laid out on her bed while mumbling a spell. The clothes did what they were supposed to, and piled themselves neatly into her luggage bag. She did the same with her favorite spell book, a few potion ingredients, and a bag of treats for Petals, her snake. Having packed everything she wanted to take, she grabbed her bag and nodded at the queen. "I'm ready whenever you are." Inside, she was dreading the trip.

 

\-----

Queen Azure sat in the middle of the flying carriage, with Primrose to her right, and her son, Prince Ren, to her left. Prince Ren was only nine, but he had been taught about the duties he would face as a king and how to act like the prince he was by his own personal teachers. He was very excited to leave the Tines, and visit a new place. The silver cuff on his left wrist glowed slightly, and he pulled his sleeve down to cover it. He wasn't entirely sure, but something often told him to keep its magic a secret.

"How long is this gonna take, mom?" he asked the queen happily. "I just can't wait to meet all the other princes and princesses at Royal Prep. Primrose, you're from Enchancia, is it _really_ as big as I've heard, dozens of royal kids like me?"

Primrose rolled her eyes, but smiled at the prince anyway. He had an almost infectious air of cheerfulness about him, and she couldn't help but smile even when her gut was telling her to just jump out of the carriage. "I'm not sure, Ren. I went to a different school."

The queen looked up from the book she had been reading, only then processing that her son had asked her a question as well. "It'll take about two weeks to get there. That's also kind of the reason we left early, so that we'll arrive in Enchancia at about eight in the morning, the time we scheduled the meeting to start. I'm glad you're excited, a whole month visiting a new place, I know I'm excited too. What about you, 'Rose?"

Primrose just nodded her head, letting Petals wind her way around the slightly grumpy sorceress. Not only was she not looking forward to going back to Enchancia, flying unfortunately also made her very sick. It was why she got a window seat.

\-----

The journey took only an hour longer than expected, and the group arrived with their guards to the castle of Enchancia. It looked to be almost the same size as the one in the Tines, but with far less rooms open to the elements.

The first one to get out of the carriage was Ren, who threw open the doors before the coachman could get to them. Primrose had to be shaken awake, and practically ordered to leave the carriage. As she stepped out of the carriage, she noticed that a lot of people were waiting to greet them, practically the entire castle was there. She scrunched herself down a bit, and walked closely behind her queen, Petals wrapping herself tightly around the sorceress.

King Roland the second and his wife, Queen Miranda, stood in the center of a small group in the middle of the crowd. Guards made way for Queen Azure and her companions, who walked up to meet the rulers of Enchancia. The ones that worked at the castle bowed to greet their guests, and Ren did his best to smile at them all. He noticed three children standing around the king and queen, and he waved at them. They waved back, and he almost jumped for joy.

Queen Azure and the king and queen of Enchancia bowed to each other. "I'm so glad we're finally meeting you. I'm King Roland the second, and this is my wife, Queen Miranda. Our children are Amber, James, and Sofia."

"I have to say, this place is very different from what I'm used to back home, but it's such a beautiful place, and you have a lovely family. I'm Queen Azure, and I'm accompanied by my son, Ren, and my sorceress, Primrose." She turned around and grabbed Primrose gently by her upper arm, and pulled her to stand beside her queen. Primrose made brief eye contact with King Roland, mumbled a greeting, and quickly looked away, staring down at her feet. "She's a bit shy, but I just can't go anywhere without her."

"That's alright, there's nothing wrong with being shy." Queen Miranda said softly. "I believe _our_ royal sorcerer is somewhere around here. Cedric?" She called for the sorcerer, and Primrose lifted her head quickly, looking around as if she had been startled.

Hurrying over towards the king and queen was a man wearing a purple robe and carrying a wand, clearly Cedric. Primroses eyes lit up, and she clasped her hands over her mouth. Queen Azure glanced over at her friend, she had never seen her friend act that way around anyone before. "Yes, Queen Miranda? Am I needed?" he asked, taking a quick, small bow at the visiting royals before facing the ones he worked for.

"Is something wrong, Primrose? You look like you've seen a ghost." Queen Azure asked her companion. Primrose blushed deeply and leaned close to her queen's ear, whispering inside it. The queen smiled upon hearing what she had to say, and placed her hand on Primrose's back. "If you want to talk to him, you're excused. If it's alright with you, King Roland, Queen Miranda, I would like to begin our boring 'royal talk', to get that out of the way today." King Roland looked relieved to hear that, and the three went inside, followed by their children, and eventually all the servants, leaving only the royal sorcerer and sorceress outside.

Primrose shook her head, but walked over to Cedric anyways. She got close to his face, pushing her glasses closer to her eyes, and examining him intently. Cedric had a bewildered look on his face, and wasn't entirely sure what to do. Suddenly, Primrose smiled, and stepped back from him. "I knew it as soon as I heard your name! It is you, Cedric! Do you remember me? Oh, you were just the nicest guy in Hexley Hall. I was worried they would have one of those jerks that used to call me 'Primrot' as a royal sorcerer, I was dreading this day!" She had never spoken that much to anyone before, aside from her parents, Queen Azure, or Prince Ren. Petals looked over at Cedric cautiously, still holding onto her master.

"I...I don't recall you. Were you one of the older or younger students?" Cedric replied nervously.

"We were in the same age group, had all the same classes. I just didn't talk to anyone much, but the others would make fun of me for not being able to grow anything. You were the only kid in school who never made me feel like a failure." She frowned a little at his lack of recognition.

Cedric's eyes widened, and he gasped. "Now, I remember you! You look so... different! I could have sworn you didn't wear glasses back then, and were a bit out of shape." He mentally slapped himself for admitting she had been a little fat as a child. As an adult, Primrose was a healthy weight, with an almost, but not quite there, hourglass figure.

"I wrecked my vision with an attempted spell when I was fifteen. Now, I have to wear these at all times, or everything even an inch away from my eyes is a complete blur. You look just how I remember, only grown up. I've always thought your hair was so cool." She felt a bit more at ease talking to Cedric, knowing that he did remember her, at least a bit.

"It wasn't my choice for it to look like this, but I'm glad you like it." The royal sorcerer mumbled. He wasn't entirely sure what to do or say around her, if he should invite her to his workshop or continue chatting about school. The answer was decided for him when a loud crack of thunder was heard and the sky darkened. "Er... would you like to see my workshop?"

\-----

Inside the castle, Ren was having a blast hanging out with the Enchancia trio. He found that James was just as enthusiastic as he was, Amber had a sense for fashion that almost matched his own, and Sofia had a lot in common with him in terms of likes. They were all three in a large room, Ren couldn't remember the name of it, but it had all sorts of things the castle in the Tines didn't.

"Back home, we have so many open rooms, like you can just walk right out to the beach!" He stated cheerfully.

"Won't bugs and sand fly into your room? I can't imagine it would be neat." Amber asked.

"Oh, it's not the bedrooms, just most of the outer rooms, although I do sleep out there sometimes, it can get pretty warm at night." Ren and James were spinning in circles, trying to see who would get dizzy first.

"I bet that looks amazing, seeing the sun set right from your bed!" Sofia exclaimed.

Ren smiled and nodded at her. He felt some sort of strange connection with her, one he couldn't figure out. "It's the best." That growing strangeness caused him to ask her a question. "Sofia, do you have any animals in here? Back home, there's all kinds of creatures that roam the castle grounds, and I've usually got one with me during storms like this." Truthfully, the storms in the Tines were usually more dangerous than the ones in Enchancia, with occasional hurricanes and floods.

"Yeah, you wanna meet Clover? He's a rabbit, and one of my best friends!" Sofia grabbed his hand, and James fell over, dizzy.

Sofia and Ren ran down the hall, looking for Clover, before finding him sitting in a bowl of apples, munching away at one.

"Hey, Sofia! New friend you got there?" Clover asked her.

"This is Ren, he's the prince of the Tines. He's been home-schooled, and this is his first time being with royalty outside of his family." She explained to her rabbit.

"Pleased to meet you, Clover. Enjoying your apple?" Ren asked slyly.

"You wouldn't believe it, kid. Sofia, it's a good thing he can't hear me, because, and no offense to him, but his hair is wild!" Clover exclaimed.

Ren ran his hand through his hair. It was a thick, untamed, dark brown mane that matched his mothers long hair. "It's not that bad, is it?" He asked.

Sofia and Clover stared at him in shock for a bit, before he realized that he had been right. Sofia could talk to animals, just like him.

\-----

Primrose followed Cedric to his tower, they had only barely avoided the rain, and she was eager to see what he had to work with. When he opened the door to his workshop, Primrose smiled.

"Impressive. A little smaller than my dungeon, but you certainly make the most of the space. Is that yours?" she mused, pointing to Wormwood, who cawed at her angrily.

"Yes, that's Wormwood, he's my raven! What's that snake of yours called?" Cedric said, tossing Wormwood a treat. He had never seen a snake that large that was as well behaved as the one owned by Primrose.

Primrose stroked Petals, who looked lazily up at her mistress. "Petals, she's a boa constrictor. I received her as a gift from my mother when I left Enchancia. We've been inseparable ever since!" She pointed at Cedric, and Petals looked up at him. "Say hello, Petals!"

The snake slithered down Primrose and across the floor. Cedric backed up nervously, until he was pressed against the door as the snake advanced. "That's quite alright, she doesn't need to greet me, I can see her from here!" He exclaimed, as Petals started to wind her way up his leg.

Primrose sighed loudly. "Fine. Petals, come back, sweetness! Cedric doesn't want a hug." The snake seemed almost to sigh itself, and returned to its owner. "Sorry about that, sometimes I forget not everyone is as comfortable with her as I am. She's wonderfully friendly, but she can be a bit tight with her grip." As Petals wrapped herself around Primrose, the snake demonstrated what the sorceress was talking about by tightening herself slightly, making Primrose look as if her waist was as round as her wrist. "See? Loosen up, precious, I need to breathe!" Primrose gasped out as the snake released her.

Cedric reluctantly grabbed her hand. He was still not sure what to think about Primrose, but she seemed to have some sort of grip on him, other than the loose one she held on his hand. Normally, with a near stranger in his workshop, his goal would be to get them out as soon as he could, but instead he showed Primrose around, letting her look at his spell book and go through his potion supplies.

Primrose was crouching down, sorting his ingredients, when she paused her search and turned to look at Cedric, with a slightly confused and disappointed look.

"No one has told you about ingredient substitution yet, have they?" She asked him. Cedric shook his head, he had never heard of it. Primrose sighed and stood straight up, adjusting her glasses as she went. "Last year, I became semi-famous for discovering substitutions you could use in case you were running low on a particular component for a potion, which can make rarer ingredients last longer. For example, you could use fifty dragonfly wings for every dragon's tear, and they work the same. It's why I'm now called Primrose the Practical."

It took Cedric a few seconds to catch on to what exactly she was talking about, but once he did, his confusion turned to delight. "You have no idea how useful that will be, I'm always running out of ingredients necessary for important potions! Now, if you would just write a list of the substitutions down for me, that would be perfect."

\-----

"So, let me get this straight, you can hear me?" Clover asked for the third time. He just couldn't believe what his floppy ears were hearing.

Ren nodded, a grin still on his face. "Yep, have been ever since mom got this armband for me on my eighth birthday. It does other cool stuff too, but mostly lets me talk to animals. I thought Sofia seemed to be hiding a secret like mine, and I just had to see if it was true. I've never met anyone else like me before! I'm glad I was right, it's so annoying having to keep quiet about this."

Sofia was delighted as well. "I've only ever met one other person with something like my amulet, and she was a mermaid! Does yours reward you for good deeds preformed?"

"Nope, it just does things whenever it wants, like it has a mind of its own, although talking to animals has stayed pretty consistent." Ren held his arm out so Sofia could examine his armlet. It was a simple silver cuff, with only a small, blue diamond to decorate it. Many would consider it to be a plain, ordinary piece of jewelry, with nothing special about it at all.

Their conversation was interrupted by the approaching sound of footsteps, and they quickly became silent as Baileywick, the castles steward, walked over to them. "There you are! Prince James said you two ran off in this direction to find Clover. It's dinner time, Prince Ren, and your mother is insistent that your sorceress eat with her. Do you know where she is?" He asked them politely.

Ren shrugged. "Last time I saw her, she was hanging out with your royal sorcerer. I bet she's still with him. Wanna go find them, Sofia?"

Sofia nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great! Thank you, Baileywick, we'll be back in the dining room with Miss Primrose before you know it!"

"I will be sure to inform your parents that you will be there shortly." Baileywick replied, before turning around and heading back the way he came.

Ren turned to look at Sofia, glad to spend more time with her. "Okay, to find Primrose, we gotta find your sorcerer. Sofia, where do you think he'd be?"

"Well, Mister Cedric spends a lot of time in his tower, so there's a pretty good chance that's where they are. I'm glad he was able to be friends with her, she seems like a really nice lady." Sofia started walking down the hall, with Ren and Clover following behind.

"Yeah, Primrose is the nicest, but very shy. She usually only ever talks to mom, her snake, or me, so when I saw her talking to your Cedric, I was shocked." Though Primrose had lived in the Tines since before Ren was born, it still took until he was six before she even said her first word to him. Ren told the others of that fact, and they looked a bit shocked.

"Now that's shy!" Clover exclaimed.

"Mister Cedric doesn't seem to have many friends, especially not ones his own age, so it's great that they seem to both be helping each other, in a way. It shouldn't take us too long to reach his tower, we'll be there any minute!" Ren held his hand out towards Sofia for a high-five, and jumped for joy when she returned it. They started walking a bit faster towards their destination, not wanting to make their parents wait too long.

\-----

"Finally, for every pumpkin, you can substitute four yams. That's twenty-four replacement ingredients, and all the ones I have discovered so far. What do you think?" Primrose asked Cedric, placing her quill back in the inkwell. She had pretty, delicate handwriting, but it was easy and clear enough to read.

"Wonderful! This will save me quite a lot of time, and I never would have known about it if you hadn't shown up. Isn't this amazing, Wormy?" He turned and looked at his raven, who begrudgingly cawed in response. 

It would be a lie to say that Wormwood liked or even tolerated Primrose, who had a voice he just couldn't stand. Not to even begin to mention how snooty her snake was. No, the raven did not care for the visitors at all.

"I'm glad I could help. If there's anything else you need, be sure to let me know." Primrose moved uncomfortably close to Cedric, her face blushing a deep red. She was going to go for it, she was going to try and give him the kiss she had wanted to give him ever since they first met, when the door opened loudly.

"Mister Cedric, is Miss Prim- oh, there she is!" Sofia called out.

Cedric and Primrose stepped away from each other, each letting out an embarrassed cough and averting their gaze. "I thought I asked you to knock, Princess Sofia." Cedric reminded the young girl.

"I'm sorry, but Queen Azure really wants Miss Primrose to have dinner with us, and Ren and I decided to come and find her." Sofia explained to the slightly humiliated sorcerer.

Primroses eyes widened at the mention of Queen Azure. "Sure, I would love to have dinner with her. Would...would it be okay if Cedric eats with us as well? I still have some things I would like to talk to him about today." That was a lie, Primrose couldn't think of much else to say to Cedric, but she didn't want to leave his company either.

"I'm sure mom will be fine with it, but you gotta hurry, otherwise dinner might get cold!" Ren said, grabbing Primroses hand and tugging lightly.

Primrose turned and looked at Cedric. She didn't make eye contact, instead choosing to stare at the bottom of his robe, but it was clear who she was trying to look at anyways. "Would you care to join me for dinner, Mister Cedric?"


	2. Dinner and the Gardens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At dinner, a ball is announced. Cedric and Primrose get to planning something for it, while Ren and Sofia explore the garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter, I think, than the first chapter, but hopefully it's just as good.

Primrose sat beside her queen, her arms folded and her expression dour. At the other end of the table, much closer to the Enchancian royals, sat Cedric. It was not at all what Primrose had in mind, and though the food was delicious, she picked at it slowly.

Queen Azure leaned close to her sorceress and whispered to her. "Is everything okay, 'Rose?" The queen always had a way of noticing when something was wrong with Primrose, and she could tell that her friend was upset.

"No, I'm fine, your majesty. Just sleepy, is all." Primrose felt bad lying to Azure, the closest friend she had ever had, but the idea of admitting that she had a crush on someone was far too embarrassing for her.

Queen Azure looked curiously at Primrose, suspecting that she was lying, but she said nothing. Primrose wasn't good at hiding secrets from her, and the queen knew she would spill her guts eventually.

"Mom, can I spend the night in Prince James' room? It'll be like a sleepover, and I've never had one before!" Ren asked his mother with a bit of excitement in his voice. Though he would much rather spend his time with Princess Sofia, he knew there was no way he would be allowed to sleep in her room.

"If Queen Miranda and King Roland are fine with it, then so am I." With his mother's reply, Prince Ren looked expectantly at the king and queen.

"I don't see any reason why he can't." King Roland said, his wife nodding in agreement. Prince Ren and Prince James both let out a cheer, and Ren jumped out of his chair, right before running over to give James a high-five.

"Here's some news that might cheer you up, Rosie. In two days, the kingdom is throwing a ball in our honor, since this is the first time in decades that anyone from the Tines has visited." Queen Azure said cheerfully.

"Your majesty, if it's all the same, may I skip it? You know I can't dance, and I would only humiliate you and Prince Ren by trying." The last time Primrose had attempted dancing, she tripped over her own feet, knocked over a column holding a vase, which fell and landed on the desserts table, knocking every cake and sweet to the ground. She didn't leave her room for an entire week out of the embarrassment she felt. It was an incident she was not eager to repeat ever again.

"That's too bad, Cedric might need some help making the ball as magical as an event this big deserves. I would really appreciate it if you worked with him tomorrow to come up with something amazing." Queen Miranda said, smiling kindly at the sulky sorceress. Cedric inhaled a spoonful of soup at the sudden revelation that he was going to actually have to do something the next day to prepare.

"Oh... w-well, it would be terribly rude of me to refuse a request while I'm a guest in your kingdom, so I will do my best to help out however I can." Primrose was almost frozen in shock, no longer grumpy. "I just c-c-can't do plants. I'm sorry." She stammered out, practically refusing to elaborate. She took a quick glance at Cedric, but he was too busy coughing for her to even guess at how he felt about working with her.

\-----

That night, Primrose had trouble sleeping. Not only was the room much brighter than the one she was used to sleeping in, she also had so much stuff on her mind that she couldn't stop thinking about. She felt ridiculous, falling for a guy at first sight, almost kissing him, she knew nothing about romance, but she was too scared of being laughed at if she told any other adults. There was only one person she confided to when the Queen seemed too imposing to her: Prince Ren. At two in the morning, she managed to finally go to sleep, determined to ask the prince for his help when she woke up.

When Primrose awoke, it was only because the sun had risen enough that it was shining through the window and right into her eyes. She groaned loudly and tried to put the pillow over her face, but it was no use. She got dressed, put her hair back into the ponytail it always was in, and teleported herself into Queen Azures room, to check on her.

Queen Azure was not there, and that was when Primrose realized that she had slept much longer than she had planned. She ran out of the room, and to the only place she knew she had to be.

When Primrose reached Cedric's workshop, she was out of breath, and she knocked quickly on his door. When it was opened, she rushed past Cedric and sat down.

"Terribly sorry for stealing your seat, but I'm exhausted. I don't think I sleep very well with all the moonlight shining into my room at night and all the sunlight during the day. Then, I remembered we need to work on coming up with an idea for something interesting to do at the ball, and I ran here. I've been awake less than an hour, and I feel as if I could fall asleep any minute." She explained to the bewildered sorcerer.

"Please don't fall asleep there, I've got very important notes that I don't need sticking to anyone's face." Cedric replied. He was not looking forward to a collaboration, especially since neither of them knew what they were going to do. "Do you have any suggestions for our work?"

Primrose shook her head. "I only had one that sounded nice, until I realized that there's no way I could do it. I was thinking about making the ballroom grow tropical plants all around the perimeter and bringing in the sound of the ocean waves, but the plants would wither and die if I had even a little bit to do with them, so that's right out. What about you?"

"Nothing. Oh, I just don't see why I wasn't given more of a warning that I would be needed for something important! But, no, they just spring this on me while I'm eating! This is why I should be king." Cedric almost flung his wand away in frustration, but managed to restrain himself.

Primroses eyes lit up, and she stood up, walking over to Cedric. "You know, I agree. You would be a wonderous king, and I can't think of a royal sorcerer ever being king before, so you would certain become famous the world over for it. What's stopping you?"

"I need more power, and the best way to obtain it would be to get Princess Sofia's magical amulet. I've tried numerous times, but no matter what, I always fail to get it." Cedric explained to her.

"That's quite a conundrum. I'm not sure if I could help you steal from a child, that's a bit beyond my morals, but I will research as many alternative routes to power as I can." Primrose leaned back against his desk, head tilted towards the ceiling, but occasionally swiping glances at Cedric when she was certain he wasn't looking. Her goal was to appear cool and aloof, and she was trying her best.

Cedric turned to look at her. "I don't see why you would, you live in the Tines, far away from Enchancia, how would it benefit you to help me?"

Primrose frowned, a dark red blush going over her face. "It.. it wouldn't benefit me directly, but knowing I got to help out would be thanks enough." She did love the idea of him being thankful enough to make her his queen, but she kept that thought to herself.

\-----

Prince Ren and Prince James had enjoyed a very fun sleepover, but the night had ended with them collapsed from exhaustion at opposite ends of James' room. When James shook Ren awake in the morning, exclaiming that he was going to miss breakfast, Ren was still a bit tired. But Ren had never missed breakfast before, and he wasn't about to start then.

Once breakfast was over, Ren suggested to Sofia that she show him around the gardens. Though his main motive was to talk to her and learn more about her, he was also fascinated by how different the plants were from the ones back at his home.

"This one is a rosebush, do you have them in the Tines?" Sofia asked Ren, pointing to a bush with beautiful, red flowers, and sharp thorns. Ren shook his head, he had never seen roses before. "Wow, the Tines sound so different, I hope we get to visit them one day!"

"Yeah, that would be great, you wouldn't believe how awesome it is! Not that this place isn't the coolest place I've ever been, but the Tines are cool in a different way. Hey, Sofia, do you mind if I ask you a weird question?" He asked quickly, hoping she would answer in the affirmative. There had been something bothering him ever since the previous night, and he wanted confirmation that it wasn't just him.

"I guess. What kind of weird?" Sofia asked cautiously. She was sweet, but she wasn't a fool.

"Okay, good. Do you think Primrose has a crush on Cedric? I mean, she was all goo-goo eyes at him, but I think he's either not interested, or just not aware that she likes him. Know what I mean?" Ren leaned forward to pick a rose for his mother, careful to mind the thorns.

Sofia thought about the question for a few seconds before deciding what to say. "Now that you mention it, she does seem to want to spend a lot of time with him. I wonder if there's any way we can help her, or help Mister Cedric if he's really not interested."

"He'll need help if he breaks Primroses heart. Mom is more protective of her than she is of me. I don't think I've ever seen Primrose interested in spending time with anyone other than my mom or her parents. She's mostly a loner, and it's super weird seeing her eyeballing your sorcerer." Ren spun the rose around in his hand, thinking as he sat down on a bench next to Sofia. "Is Cedric a nice guy? I would hate for Primrose to be interested in some jerk."

"Mister Cedric is nice, but he can be a little strange sometimes. From what I've seen of Miss Primrose, she can be a little strange too, though, and they seem to get along." Sofia wasn't entirely sure what to say, but she kind of liked the idea of playing matchmaker.

"We gotta come up with a plan of some kind. Let's get to brainstorming!" Ren said happily, and the two started to discuss their ideas.

\-----

"Oh, I think I've got just the idea! We can keep the sounds of the ocean, and turn the walls into giant windows to the Tines' seaside. That way, it will look like everyone is really there, but without any plants. What do you think, Cedric?" Primrose was more than a little proud of herself for the idea, although it would be the first time she had tried to do anything like it, she was sure that with the help of another sorcerer, she would be able to figure out the logistics behind the design for the ball.

"It's probably the best we'll be able to come up with on such short notice, and the kingdom does love its novelty parties." Cedric recalled all the parties he had helped out for the kingdom over the years, and it seemed as if almost every one of them had some sort of gimmick to it. "Yes, I think they will love it, and it doesn't seem as if it would be too difficult, either."

"Wow, you really think they would love it? That's great! I wasn't sure if that sort of stuff would be interesting to the royals in Enchancia, a lot of things are so different here than they are back home." Primrose had a soft smile on her face, feeling a little homesick. She missed her dungeon-esque workshop, and she knew Petals missed getting to roam the palace by herself. Instead, the snake was confined to Primroses room when not with the sorceress.

Primrose was still thinking about her snake when she heard a slight noise. Startled, she turned to face Cedric. "What time is it?" She asked nervously.

"Almost two in the evening, why?"

Primrose groaned loudly, lowering her head into her hands. "Queen Azure wanted me to go and pick out a dress with her at two. I've still got so much to work on with this project, and she wants me to play dress-up. I'll be back eventually, but in the meantime, can you look through your spell book and mine to see if there's anything that will help us with the wall-mirrors?"

"Of course, now, be on your way!" Cedric said cheerfully as Primrose rushed out of his tower. He had been looking forward to browsing her spell book for anything his didn't have, and he was going to take his time with it.

\-----


	3. The Start of the Day of the Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dress-shopping, class, and only a few hours left until the ball. Will Cedric and Primrose figure out a spell in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Describing clothes is something I'm not very good at, but I think I did okay with this chapter.

Queen Azure was waiting for her sorceress at a flying carriage outside of the castle. She looked as elegant as always, but Primrose frowned when she saw that Queen Miranda was accompanying them.

"I thought it would be best if we all went together, Primrose. I hope you don't mind." Queen Azure said hopefully. She knew Primrose minded and had probably been looking for some alone time with her queen, but Primrose had been stepping out of her comfort zone a lot on their trip, and Azure figured once more wouldn't hurt.

"I...It's no problem at all. I am glad you are accompanying us, Queen Miranda. I hope you find a dress suitable for someone as classy as you." Primrose bowed to Queen Miranda, hiding her slight frown.

"Thank you, Primrose. I'm sure we all will find something we love." Miranda replied.

It was just the three of them and the carriage driver going dress shopping, although the driver would be staying with the carriage, the two queens knew they could count on Primrose to defend them should they need it. Queen Azure had spoken fondly to Queen Miranda about the many times Primrose had protected her from imminent danger.

The dress shop was large, and close enough to Royal Prep that Primrose could see it, along with Hexley Hall, right out the window. Hexley hall didn't appear to look any different from when she had attended, and she smiled at that. The shop was almost solely for shopping princesses and their mothers, although it did have a cheaper selection for commoners. Primrose was heading towards that selection when her queen grabbed her shoulder.

"Hold on, you're coming with us. I don't want to buy something I look nice in, while you just buy the first orange thing you see." Queen Azure knew that was exactly what Primrose had been planning, and she did not approve. "I want you to look on the outside how you do on the inside, so everyone can see your beauty."

Primrose winced and recoiled a bit at that statement. "Beauty? You must be thinking of someone else, your majesty. Inside, I'm as hideous and strange as my outsides."

Queen Miranda spoke up, with a bit of concern in her voice. "Primrose, you don't need to talk like that, it's not good for you. Please, let us find you a dress that you will look and feel good and comfortable in, okay?"

Primrose simply nodded, before plopping down on one of the chairs outside the waiting room.

She watched as the queens tried on various dresses, all of which seemed to blur together in her mind. Occasionally, one of the queens would place a dress in a pile beside the sorceress, leaving it for her to try on once they were done. After only an hour, Queen Azure had picked out a ballgown in robin's egg blue, with glittering diamonds cascading from the high neckline and flowing sleeves like raindrops. Queen Miranda had chosen a pink one with a scooped neckline and several bows, along with pearls decorating the trim. They sat patiently as Primrose shuffled into the dressing room.

Five dresses in, and Primrose felt even less beautiful than she had before. None of the dresses seemed to suit her in either style or personality, until she tried on the sixth. It had a high, ruffled collar that stood behind her neck, and a bow tied along the waist, with an embroidered rose growing out from it, vines wrapping along the tight sleeves. The layers of orange and dark pink ruffles along the side panels accentuated the rest of the purple gown. As soon as she put it on, Primrose felt like she herself was royalty.

"Oh, Primrose, that's positively perfect! I knew as soon as Queen Miranda showed it to me that you would love it. I mean, it's the only dress in the entire store that has all your favorite colors on it. What do you think?" Queen Azure almost gaped at how charming her sorceress looked. She had seen Primrose in a lot of outfits, but none of which held a candle to the glamour that exuded from the one she was wearing.

"It really is lovely." Queen Miranda spoke up.

Primrose blushed deeply, lowering her head. "Thank you, your Highness, for the compliments. I... I kind of like it, too. It's the most beautiful dress I've ever tried, and it is pretty comfortable." Though Primrose was sincere in her praise, she still felt hesitant to wear the dress for long. It felt like it belonged to someone else, like she had stolen the gown from a more deserving wearer. Still, she kept a half-smile on her face as she limply nodded.

"Then I'll buy it for you." Queen Miranda replied, glad that the shy girl had found something she seemed to truly love. "Since you and Queen Azure are our guests, it's only right that I buy your dresses."

"Oh no, I shall not impose on you like that!" Queen Azure let out a half-hearted protest. She knew there was no arguing, and she was right. Queen Miranda paid for all three dresses, and the trio was soon back on their way to the castle, where Primrose skipped dinner and collapsed straight into her bed. Dress shopping had taken a lot out of her.

\-----  
Ren and Sofia had spent the day prior to the ball playing in the garden with her animal friends. Occasionally, James and Amber joined them, but it was mostly just the magical duo. Though Ren had only met her a few days prior, he was already considering her his best friend. That wasn't hard though, as Ren did not know many people his age back home. Unfortunately, the Prince had to go to bed early that night, and he hadn't even gotten to his favorite part of the story he had been telling Sofia.

The day of the ball, both Prince Ren and Primrose woke up with the sun. Ren ran around his room, rummaging through the clothes he had brought and putting them on quickly. He didn't want to miss any time hanging out with someone who finally understood his secret. Primrose, on the other hand, slunk about her room slowly, feeding Petals and getting dressed enough to look like she hadn't just woke up. Though she was still physically and emotionally exhausted, she knew she had a job to do, and shuffled herself out of her room and down to Cedric's tower, taking Petals with her.

The last thing Sofia had told him before he had to go to bed was that she was going to introduce him to some of her human friends. He now felt as if he knew her animal friends well, but so far he had had few interactions with other children. Ren left his room and paced down the halls expectantly, waiting for the others to wake up.

\-----

Primrose knocked on the door, almost falling prey to sleep as she waited for Cedric to let her in. When the door opened, Cedric was rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.

"Do you know what time it is? It's far too early to be here, that's for certain." He mumbled. Still, he let her into his workshop, where she sat on the floor, holding her knees tight to her chest.

Primrose nodded slowly. "I know, I don't want to be up now, either, but we really must get to work on figuring out that windows spell. We only have a few hours left until the ball, and I've only got the slightest idea of a spell. Also, you still have my spell book."

Cedric looked a bit startled. "Oh, I do, don't I? Well, I suppose you can have it back. I've copied down any spells I didn't have, and wrote a few of my own in as well." He sighed and placed the book beside Primrose. "We could try to make a potion, but I'm not sure we have enough time to practice with them until we get one that works."

Primrose grabbed her spell book and shakily stood up. She looked at the portrait of Goodwin the Great and Winifred the Wise. "I remember hearing that your parents are some of the best sorcerers in Enchancia, possibly the whole world. Do you have any way of contacting them? Perhaps they might have an idea?" Primrose had only met Goodwin and Winifred once when she was small, and she thought they seemed nice enough people to her.

Cedric blanched at the idea. "I... I do have a way, but I'm not sure we need to get them involved."

A voice came from behind them. "Oh, I don't mind helping at all, Ceddykins!" Behind the two sleepy sorcerers stood Winifred the Wise, fully awake and now missing from the painting.

"Mummy! Oh, you needn't worry yourself with this, we've got it under control!" Cedric said, clearly glad to see his mother, but unwilling to admit that he needed help with a simple party trick.

"I'm not quite sure you do, dear." Winifred reached up patted her tall son on the shoulder. That was when she saw Primrose looking a little confused. "Oh, hello! Judging by your looks, you must be Petunia and Eelwin's child, yes? You have your fathers hair and your mothers face. I haven't seen them in ages, how are they doing?"

Primrose smiled at the mention of her parents. "They're fine. After I became the royal sorceress of the Tines, mother and father went out to explore the oceans. I still see them at holidays. How are you, madam?" She bowed in respect towards the more powerful sorceress in front of her.

"Oh, I'm quite alright, I would love to help you two out, I do hate seeing my Ceddy all defeated looking." Winifred pinched her son on the cheek, and let out a little chuckle. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

\-----

"Sofia, there you are! I've been waiting, I just can't wait to meet your friends! Do they all go to Royal Prep, too? I've been trying to talk mom into letting me go, but she's worried it's too far away." Ren spoke quickly as Sofia ate her breakfast with her siblings.

"Not all of them, I still have plenty of friends back in the village!" She said, making sure to have completely finished eating her forkful of pancake before responding.

"Hey, Ren, wanna meet some of my friends, too? Zandar is awesome, you'd love him!" James called out from his seat. 

Ren grinned. "Sure, I'd love to meet all your friends! I don't have many friends my own age back home. I normally just hang out with mom and her buddies, or I go and bother Primrose." He joked, he knew that Primrose did enjoy hanging out with him, when she wasn't busy with something important. Ever since they had arrived in Enchancia, she had been too busy to pay much attention to him.

"Once we're done with breakfast, we can go to school. Dad spoke to the teachers, and you'll be able to sit in on class today for the rest of the time you're here, if you want." Sofia was looking forward to helping Ren make more friends. It made her feel a little sad to hear that he didn't have that many friends, and she wanted to fix that. "Maybe when you've returned to the Tines, you can keep in contact with us all as pen-pals!"

"That sounds like a great idea, thanks, Sofia! My penmanship is pretty good." Ren could barely sit still in his chair, he so looked forward to the day.

\-----

When Ren came to class, he was almost immediately swarmed by the other students in the class. They asked him a lot of questions that he struggled to answer. He stood overwhelmed by the sheer volume of kids until Fauna gently shooed them away from him.

"Please class, settle down. This is Prince Ren, from the kingdom of the Tines, and he will be visiting us for a few weeks." She spoke in a kind tone of voice, and Ren smiled up at her. "Is there anything you would like to say to the class?" She asked him.

Ren cleared his throat, his hands folded behind his back. "Hello, I hope we all can be friends, I like fashion, animals, and running around. Enchancia is so different from the Tines, I've seen so much cool stuff in only a few days here!" After finishing, he ran over to an empty seat and sat down.

"Alright class, today we will be learning a new spell." Fauna instructed the class, and Ren sat quietly the entire time, eagerly absorbing every word he could into his brain.

\-----

"Now, let's give this a try, shall we?" Winifred looked over at Primrose expectantly.

"Windoforus Transformia Tinelles!" Primrose said loudly, while waving her wand towards a wall. It took only a few seconds before the surface of the wall began to ripple like water, until it finally settled down with a view of the beach, the sun setting slowly and the sound of waves lapping at the sand softly sounded throughout the room. Primrose smiled and hugged her wand close to her. "Oh, thank you so much, I can't believe I did this, it's beautiful!"

"I knew you would be able to, you and Cedric are very talented, you just needed a bit of encouragement. Now, I have to go, Goodwin and I are going on a lovely walk, and I've put it off for as long as I can. But, I have something to say to you, Ceddykins." 

Winifred motioned for her son to bend down, and she whispered something in his ear. He blushed deeply and started to sputter. "M-mummy! I'm not sure you're right about that!"

"Of course I am, dear. You just need more time, then you'll see what I mean." Winifred laughed a little as she returned to Mystic Meadows, and her image returned to the portrait.

Primrose walked up to the still-shocked sorcerer. "If you don't mind me asking, what did she say? I must admit, I am very curious."

Cedric shook his head as the blush faded. "Oh, nothing you would want to know. We should probably get to the ballroom, so we can get this over with. You did a very good job with that spell, but I need to undo it now, otherwise the beach will keep me up all night tonight." He waved his wand at the wall and spoke a spell, returning it to its previous appearance.

"Please, lead the way. I have no clue where the ballroom is." Primrose reached towards his hand, but pulled back at the last minute. If she had grabbed his hand, she felt she would have fainted. Instead, she and Petals followed Cedric and Wormwood out of the tower.

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ball will start in the next chapter! What will happen then? Even I don't know, and I'm writing this.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more chapters, with an increased focus on Queen Azure as well!


End file.
